Birthday Moments

Today marks the 45th anniversary of my entrance to this world. That’s right. It’s my birthday. I freaking love my birthday. I love my birthday like 5 year-olds love their birthday. I’m talking giddy all week, spoil myself rotten, eat cake for breakfast, champagne for dinner, celebrate in every way, “it’s birthday WEEK not just birthday DAY” kind of love my birthday. It never gets old!

It has long been a belief of mine that anniversaries and birthdays are an excellent time to reflect, review, reframe, and reignite the fire at heart. My husband can vouch for this. Every year in October, he prepares for my “Year in Review” line of questioning for our marriage - he’s a damn good sport!

There’s a simple beauty in such a practice. You see, all year long we plug on from day to day, week to week, month to month doing our best. Through all of the “stuff” and the “things” that fill our minutes, we often lose sight of the moments. It’s not a failing on our part. It’s just a glitch of being human. If you’ve ever tried to meditate and catch your mind constantly filling with thoughts, you know exactly what I mean.

Simply put, that is the human design. Constant adaptation and forward motion. I don’t know when it started or if it’s already been labeled (I’m sure it has) but it is how we’ve gotten here from the hunched over version of our ancestors. It is counterintuitive to most to slow down and take stock. Just keep swimming...baby steps, baby steps...next right thing... It’s just basic survival.

Basic survival.

Is that enough for you? If it is, congrats! You're living your dream!! Also, please introduce yourself bc I’m utterly intrigued. If it's not enough for you, welcome to the club. I want so much more out of life than basic survival.

I want to feel every emotion - not just the good ones. I want to lean into the hurt and the sad until I understand the message it brings. I want laughter and love and passion of all kinds. I want connection with humans and all the messiness that brings. I want to never stop learning about myself and others and what unites us. I want to find new dreams and visions. I want to change my mind and start again. I want to evolve over and over and over. I want all the experiences. I want all the moments. I. Want. To. Thrive.

In my 45 years in this body, there's only a few things I know for certain:

1. Life will never stop changing. It will forever keep getting different on us.

2. Resistance is futile. No one can stop the changes. In fact, the bigger the tantrum of defiance, the harder the transition will be on the tantrum thrower.

3. The moments lie in the leaning in.

My birthday wish for all of us is that we find time to stop and acknowledge our present experience. Take the time to see the shape of life right now. Reflect on what it was, where it evolved from, and where it appears to be going. Review our responses and actions that got us to this point in time. Reframe those responses and outlooks to build the next evolution with more intention. Reignite the fires in your heart to go beyond basic survival mode and into THRIVE mode.

Also, eat some cake.